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May 2015

This year has shown that terrorism is again coming closer to Europe. After Madrid in 2003 and London in 2005, this year it has already visited Paris, Brussels and Verviers. Tomorrow it could be Frankfurt, Berlin or Rome.

Early This Morning in Zurich (or late last night for those of us stateside), Swiss plainclothes police entered the Baur au Lac; the five-star hotel was the site of this week’s annual meeting of FIFA, soccer’s global governing body. The officers ascertained room numbers from the front desk, headed upstairs, and arrested six FIFA executives.

Eastern Partnership states could be defined as the region of the EU and Russian neighbourhood, cooperation and competition. Although in 2009 it was highlighted that Eastern Partnership is not directed against Russia, that it will create the space for cooperation, that six post-Soviet countries will be invited to sign the association agreements with the EU and free trade agreements, Russia perceived this as a breach of its power in the region.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė together with Finland’s former President Tarja Halonen unveiled sculpture “Suomis” in Vilnius. At the unveiling ceremony, the President underlined that this sculpture was a symbol of close friendship between Lithuania and Finland.

Russia's Gazprom may have leveraged its dominant position by obtaining unrelated commitments on pipelines from its customers, as a condition of supplying gas to Bulgaria and Poland, says Margrethe Vestager.

Following political consultations held in Kabul May 9 between the foreign ministries of Kazakhstan and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRA), Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani is expected to visit in the near future, according to the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The story of Georgia's NATO aspirations is not a new trend. This is evidenced by both the past and the present government while the West continues giving promises to encourage and help. However, it is namely Georgia's NATO aspirations that may indirectly affect the issue of territorial integrity of the country. The regular statements of the West that it is ready to see Georgia as a member of the alliance, postpone the return of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Before a sea of waving Polish flags and a boisterous crowd of supporters chanting his name, Andrzej Duda heralded his stunning victory in Poland’s presidential election as a seismic shift in the country’s political arena.

Kyrgyzstan joined the Eurasian Economic Union on May 8 in spite of the fears that the accession could be delayed until the end of May because of fundamental differences between Kyrgyzstan's national interests and EEU regulations.

There still remain circumstances in Afghanistan that could trigger a mass influx of refugees to the Central Asian countries. Therefore, UNHCR is closely working with the governments in the region on developing contingency plans in case of refugee influx, which will ensure that in case of emergency those who are in need of international protection will be given access to the territory and asylum procedure, Mr. Bernard Doyle, UNHCR Regional Representative and Regional Coordinator for Central Asia, told in an interview with AKIpress.